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On Sunday, May 17, in this space, we reported on the annual Kids Count study on the status of children in the country and for each of the 50 states. For our kids in South Carolina, the results were not good, as we as a state had slipped two places in the rankings.
Last year, South Carolina ranked 45th of the 50 states in the well-being of our children, the same place as in 2013, but down two places from 2012, when we ranked 43rd.
We are gaining speed in the wrong direction.

I have written this column before. In fact, I’ve written this same basic column about this time every year for the past several years.
And I’ll write it again next year, and every year for as long as I do this column because it’s so important. It’s about how well the children of South Carolina are doing. The answer in a word is – worse.

Sunlight is sorely needed in our nation’s capital as Congress considers an expedited process for approving trade agreements that are being done largely in secret. For the past several years, representatives of our government have been negotiating trade deals with Pacific Rim nations and the European Union behind closed doors, pacts that will affect every American family and worker.
The only people privy to inside information about the trade talks have been 566 trade advisers, the overwhelming majority of whom represent corporate interests.

Most people only visit hospitals occasionally, when a loved one is sick or a friend is having a baby. Associates at Springs Memorial Hospital are different in this regard. Each day, hundreds of associates come to the hospital to provide compassionate, personalized care for friends, neighbors and those they do not know. Our providers work together around the clock, seven days a week to make healthcare available any time it is needed, whether for one person or more in times of community crisis or natural disaster.

Long before Jesus’ birth, the prophet Isaiah wrote a prophecy about the “suffering servant of Jehovah,” found in Isaiah 52:13-53:12.
Eight passages in the New Testament declare that this passage describes the Lord Jesus Christ, including the words of Jesus himself, when he said, “This that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.” (Luke 22:37)

I was blessed to have not only my own mother, Juanita B. Walker, but four surrogate mothers. Three of them are deceased, but I want their families to know how much I loved them and how much I appreciate them sharing their loved ones with me.
I would first like to thank the Lancaster News for including my mother in the Black History Trivia Contest in February. She was truly a trailblazer in this community and local, state and national politics, but she never won any awards for that.

The fiscal year 2016 Lancaster County budget took another step on its path April 30 with a presentation to the Lancaster County Council Committee of the Whole.
The long and short of the situation is that the new (version 5) budget has found a little more revenue and cut a few expenses and is said to be balanced with a 1 mill property tax increase.

What’s the difference between one year and 52 weeks, except $2?
All the employees who work at The Lancaster News are real nice folks. I know many of them personally, like Debbie Gallien, the receptionist, and others like Susan Rowell, Barbara Rutledge, Robert Howey, Greg Summers, Laura Caskey, Becky Outen, Bruce Adams and others who have been kind as well.
Now, with that being said, allow me to vent my frustrations.

Last month, we looked at how excess funds are generated in the county budgeting process. We also talked about $2 million in excess funds from the 2013-14 fiscal year.
This month, we will examine where some of these funds have been approved to be used in this fiscal year and why generally appropriating these one-time funds for reoccurring expenses do not make for sound fiscal policy.

Although the “buzz” about bee declines makes headlines, excites public concern and warrants a White House Task Force on the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators, bees are still in jeopardy.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have failed to act with force on one of the key causes of pollinator declines – neonicotinoid pesticides.